What type of flight controllers should i get?

[ShadowsAndDust]

ive played combat flight sims for quite awhile and ive always just made do with your basic flight stick. After getting BoS I decided its time to step up my game. what flight controllers would you recommend? im not looking to spend a fortune but I don't want the cheap stuff either. ive seen some stuff on BestBuy.com called Saitek. Is that stuff any good?

 

Thanks yall

[Nil]

I'm using a Saitek x52 pro, and manage to map most of the essentials controls on the stick, Since you can double map some, you can for example have the bomber sight mapped so something else while flying a fighter.. you can also spend a while setting up modes and shiftstates (at least you could, haven't tried that yet on the latest) Since it have a 'twist rudder' you can use that (with a lot less precision) until you saved up for a nice set och pedals with toebrakes. And a trackIR is a must!

[ShadowsAndDust]

so forgive my ignorance but what is TrackIR?

[DD_bongodriver]

so forgive my ignorance but what is TrackIR?

 

Always makes my jaw drop to hear this, but forget TrackIR wait till you get a load of Oculus rift.

[Afwastus]

T-16000M is probably the best entry level joystick out there ($47 on amazon). It has a twist stick which is important if you don't have HOTAS. It beats all of the Saitek products and Logtech products (even the more expensive HOTAS setups) which are notoriously unreliable. The buttons aren't great but they are adequate and for the price it's impossible to beat.

 

If you want to spend the big bucks then the TM Warthog or CH Products are the way to go. I've heard good things about the MFG Crosswind rudder pedal as well.

[ShadowsAndDust]

I would love to get occulus rift.

[39bn_pavig]

Saitek x55 is great (despite some misgivings about quality control on early release product, but that's what you get when you release a well priced popular thing onto the market.) The throttle has tons of controls so you should have no problem mapping everything. The stick is good, the throttle is great, and I figure if you ever decide there's a better stick you can keep the throttle. Many people claim the Thrustmaster Warthog hotas is best, and it does have a great stick. The throttle however (despite great build quality) is optimized for flying an A-10 so doesn't translate great for other aircraft due to non-momentary switches etc which don't make sense on other aircraft. With the X55 if you tire of the saitek stick you could buy a Warthog stick if you wish (or any other brand) for cheaper than buying the full warthog setup.

 

Pedals are worth having, though opinions differ on which is best.  CH gets good price/performance reviews, saitek is de facto standard, and crosswinds if you have the money. If you have a twist stick then you don't absolutely need pedals, but I find them much nicer to play with, and despite being uncoordinated they seem more precise to me. Check other threads on the forum for great pedal recommendations.

 

Look into trackIR on youtube. It is wonderful for flight sims. This video should give you some idea how it works: 

[6./ZG26_5tuka]

As said the T.16000 has a very good reputation as an easy to learn and precise entry joystick. In mid price range Saitek X-52 or X-55 might be best choices out there, though I myslef only tested the X-52 Pro so far (which works great in BoS).

 

After getting used to flying wiht a joystick the next step is rudder pedals. They are clearly superiour to any twist axis and usually combine great movement area with toe braking. This is a major advantage when taxiing by using differential braking.

 

TrackIR or Freetrack are head tracking devices attached to your head to simulate your real head movement ingame. Highly superiour to hat switches but not ultimately essential in my opinion (have been flying for 4 years now without and my situational awareness isn't that bad actually).

Edited October 5, 2014 by [Jg26]5tuka

[Afwastus]

Am I the only one who  uses the mini-joystick on my CH Throttle to control yaw (the rudders)?

 

My thumb is far more accurate than my feet and all it takes is a small finger movement.

Edited October 5, 2014 by Afwastus

[39bn_pavig]

...In mid price range Saitek X-52 or X-55 might be best choices out there, though I myslef only tested the X-52 Pro so far (which works great in BoS)...

 

I would recommend the x55, but if you do get an X52 go for the pro. It is available on some good deals these days, and the build quality of the x52 pro is far superior to the stock x52. 

[Vaxxtx]

Xbox controller.

[-NW-ChiefRedCloud]

What's YOUR budget?

 

Chief

[dave9810]

Using the X55 Rhino bought it for £189

 

Very nice HOTAS especially with the interchangeable springs (i'm using the lowest one and its perfect). Lots of buttons which is nice.

 

The only downside to it is the hat switches could of been made out of a more sturdy plastic. 

[OBT-Psycho]

it depends of the answers to 2 questions :

 

- what type of sims you plan to play?

 

- how much you plan to spend on this?

:

let's assume you want to psend around 200$ and you prefer warbirds sim. then you would have to get a FFB stick first! for around 50$ you can have a second  MSFFB2 which is just in my opinion the best FFB stick ever made. FFB is jst oustandingly good, and by far one of the most durable device I hve ever had.  and for the rest of the money, you can have a rudder pedal like the saitek one. it doesn't cost that much and are far worth the money.

with the money left, you can grab a Track IR V4. it is really one of the immersive stuff you could buy at the moment. Occulift rift seems to push it up to 11, but I don't think they will be ready anytime soon sim wise, I will definitely buy one of these as soon as I consider it ready, but I don't see it in the next year and a half. 

 

now if you have a bit more money to spend, you can look a different rudder pedals like Crosswind ones. they seem to be superbly finished. you could also look at a Track IR v5 which seems to be a reasonable uprgrade from the previous one.

you could also spend it into some 2nd hand G940. as said they are not really reliable but easilly fixed. this is what I did and I don't regret it at all. Despite small quirks, it is the first and only FFB hotas ever made. and the rudder pedals are included!! 

 

now If you plan to play modern flight sim, FFB would be irrelevant  and I would go for something else on the hotas side, like X-55 or else. but I would go definitely for the TrackIR

[Nil]

The X52 pro costs 130£ (here in Sweden) and the TrackIR5 the same. You can probably get a used TrackIR4 that actually isn't that much different. But for a joystick I recommend a new one, as they wear down (not so much on the X52pro, I consider it high quality for it's price, and really high for being a plastic one)
I were going to buy a x55. but can't remember what stopped me? But it were some minor detail. I have had cougars and still have s MSFFB2 that works/looks just as good as the day I bought it. If Shipping weren't so damn expensise from Sweden I'd send it to you for the shipping cost (and I don't have the original box left), since I rather rely on experience from the airplanes response, and have a HOTAS (x52pro) with more buttons, rather then FFB.

[9./JG27golani79]

I´m using a X55 which is also my first HOTAS - it´s made of plastic (switches on the throttle are made of metal) but the processings seems fine and solid to me so far.

A lot of buttons / switches and changeable springs which makes it well adjustable for your own needs.

 

I´ve also got me a TrackIR and I couldn´t imagine to go back flying without it.

[Nil]

That might've been the reason i didn't get an x55 no twist rudder? Or does it have it? I currently cant fit my rudderpedals under the table, since the bottom of the table shelf is in the way.

[39bn_pavig]

The x55 has a twist rudder. The twist is quite firm (which is good) but the pots on the twist axis are low quality. (Mine has a glitch on this axis. Perhaps dust in the pot or something.) You can't lock the twist axis like some other saitek sticks if you use pedals, but thankfully the action is firm enough that it shouldn't distract. Other sticks I've used (eg logitech 3d pro) have not so firm twist axes compared to x and x and so are difficult to fly without unintended rudder movement. The x55 gets the twist axis just right.

Edited October 5, 2014 by 39bn_pavig

[ShadowsAndDust]

im figuring for flight stick, throttal and pedals no more then 300$ but since i do have a logitech pro with twist rudder control i dont really need the flight stick. and since looking at trackIR i think ill for go the flight stick and rudders and get the throttal control with track IR and later on upgrade my flight stick.

[9./JG27golani79]

You can't lock the twist axis like some other saitek sticks if you use pedals, but thankfully the action is firm enough that it shouldn't distract.

 

Do you mean on the hardware side?

Cause you can lock the twist axis in the H.U.D software.